Monticello

I'm a very bad blogger. Jess and I went to Monticello in October.....yes October, as in two months ago, and I am just now getting around to writing about it. At least I get to officially cross another item off of my List of 26 Things to Do While I'm 26.

We needed a girls weekend, so what is better than starting the weekend off with wine and learning how to make hors d'œuvres at Cookology. Did I mention there was wine? Perfect way to start the weekend for sure! Sadly there were no pictures taken....we were too busy eating and drinking! Oh and getting soaking wet from the hand washing sink that's handle turned the opposite way from common sense (sorry Jess).

Saturday we headed to Charlottesville.We ended up at the walking mall in downtown where we grabbed some lunch and started some Christmas shopping.

Next we headed to Monticello. The gardens were fabulous! I can only dream of having gardens like this one day.  

Does anyone know what the purpose is for these clay pots? We could not figure it out!

My goal for next year to start a rosemary bed, so I can eventually have something like this:

We also toured the house which was a great experience. Something about walking in the same space as someone as important as Thomas Jefferson is very inspiring.

 

The views and the flower gardens certainly didn't disappoint either!

If you are ever in the area, I would certainly recommend making the trip!

Words to Live By



Source: Pinterest

I hope everyone has a great Saturday!

Shipping Cookies

I just came across a great blog post from a fellow blogger, The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle, that shows some excellent ideas for shipping your Christmas cookies this year.

Check it out!

Source: The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle

Planning a Christmas Party?

Is anyone planning a Christmas party this year? I just thought I should point out that Pink Poppy Cupcakes has a few holiday related cupcake wrappers and toppers that would be perfect for any get together this month.



There are even gift tags available to add a little something extra to your packages this year:

Spread a Little Christmas Cheer

As I've said before on this topic, regardless of your stance on our Country's military operations, I believe everyone should support our troops that put their lives in danger to protect our freedom.

Jess, manager of Team East Coast Love, introduced me to Baking Gals this past summer and I have been sending a box (or two) of love to overseas troops since August. Every month, teams are formed that sponsor a specific soldier. Members join a team, or multiple teams, and send a box of love and support to that specific soldier. Each soldier is then hopefully bombarded with multiple boxes that they can share with their fellow soldiers.



With the holidays just a few short weeks away, are you willing to spare a few hours to bake a few cookies and mail them to a very deserving soldier? I can see this being a great family tradition, get the kids into the kitchen, spend some quality time together, and spread a little Christmas cheer overseas!



To join Baking Gals, go to their website: http://www.bakinggals.com/ and create a new account. It may take a few days for the administrator to authorize your account, but once she does you'll be able to join a team for that month's round.   This month's round is currently open. Shipping starts on December 1st and ends December 21st.

Let's show them how much we love and support them this holiday season!

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone is able to enjoy the day with family and friends. There is so much Michael and I are thankful for this year.

Aruba

I cannot believe that we are in the month of November already. Where did this year go?!? I also cannot believe that it has been two months since Michael and I were in Aruba (plus the fact that it's taken me two months to put a blog post together about the trip!).

Here are some of the highlights of the trip.

Let me first start by saying that the owner's of the company Michael works for, gave us a week of their timeshare since Michael put countless hours into moving their showroom and warehouse space from one location to another in February. We decided on Aruba and stayed at Marriot's Surf Club. Andrew tagged along for the trip.

Here are the obligatory shots of the hotel. It had a spacious kitchen, dining room and living room. Michael and I took the master bedroom with our own bathroom and Andrew had his own hotel room with a connecting door.

Our "ocean view" - we wished we were up a bit higher!

Overall the week consisted of sitting on the beach, drinking lots of frozen drinks, eating some fabulous dinners and watching some amazing sunsets!

My morning coffee/kindle reading spot!

The docks where all the fisherman kept their boats.

We decided there was no way you could pay us to ride is any of them!

 

The bill for dinner came in Cuban Cigar boxes - Michael and Andrew were both hoping they weren't empty. ;)

Look at that water!

                                                           A perfect day at the beach.

I was told we had to get a Grandma Joe's Pink Lemonade from Iguana Joe's. It wasn't bad.

One of the days, we took a tour of the island. We started off at a butterfly farm,

Followed by a trip to the California lighthouse, which is actually named after a ship that sank off the coast,

Then to Alto Vista Chapel,

Casibari Rock Formations, basically this was a huge natural granite rock formation that allowed you to look over island,

Then to the Natural Bridge ruins. While I think we could have lived without seeing some of these sights, it definitely gave us an overview of the entire island without having to rent a car. Next time, we're renting a Jeep!

We finished the night off with a sunset at a bar over the water.

The next day, I had hired a photography to get some pictures of us on the beach. We haven't had pictures taken since our wedding, so this was something I was really looking forward to!

Michael surprised me that night with dinner on the beach. The ambiance was great and was one of the top highlights of the trip for me.

The following day, we went on a snokeling trip. If you are ever in Aruba, I absoluetely recommend checking out the Jolly Pirates trip. We had a blast!

The crew was amazing! Plus they had an open bar!

The last night we were there, we had grabbed a pizza, some Balashi (Aruba's beer) and some rum and cokes and headed to the beach to watch the sunset. It was a fabulous way to end the week!

It was an great week. I really hope we're able to go back and enjoy the island again.